Methodological Guidebook on Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services

In the previous posts on the MEGA Blog we described the main results of the Codru Quest, the project on the economic valuation of ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation in the protected area of the Codru Nature Reserve and the Codru forest in Moldova. In the post “The Codru Quest at the Finish Line” you can read about its concept, goals, and the research process. In the post “The Codru Quest Results are Out” you can learn about the results of how people value ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation and what it means for environment protection in Moldova.

 

 

However, economic values of ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation are not the only output of the Codru Quest. The project had an additional goal to elaborate and publish a methodological guidebook that describes the step-by-step process of conducting an economic valuation study with choice modelling technique. This goal was set up to help the researchers, who are at the beginning of their environmental economics experience, to conduct their first economic valuation study.

The additional goal was achieved due to the support of the researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark: Evdokia Roidou, Felipe Fausto, and Tim de Kruiff. Not only did they help us estimate willingness to pay for ecosystem services presented in the previous posts, but also they contributed to describing each step in the data analysis and estimation process in the methodological guidebook, as well as did the proof-reading and editing of this publication.

 

 

As a result of our common efforts we are proud to present you the publication “The Codru Quest: Methodology”. It is a detailed description of the methodology of economic valuation with choice modelling technique applied in the Codru Quest project. From it you will learn how to prepare for such research work, design the economic valuation survey, test and improve it, gather and analyze valiable data from respondents, prepare the final results, and present them to key stakeholders.

By using the methodological guidebook you can follow the steps of the Codru Quest methodology to realize your own economic valuation study with the use of choice modelling technique. The step-by-step explanation of the technique will help you to understand what to do, why to do it, and how to do it; and the example of the Codru Quest project will allow you to visualize the entire process of an economic valuation study and every step of it.

“The Codru Quest: Methodology” is available for reading and downloading for free below. We hope you will find it useful for your environmental research and wish you MEGA great success in realizing it.

 

 

The Codru Quest was realized with the support of the Rufford Foundation, Danubius Young Scientist Award2016 offered by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science, Research and Economy (BMWFW) and the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), Klaus Toepfer Fellowship programme delivered by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), Spark Research Labs, and the Codru Nature Reserve.